In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress wrested the Noapara Assembly seat from the Congress on Thursday and was all set to retain the Uluberia Lok Sabha seat with a huge margin even as the BJP emerged its main challenger.
In Bengal, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has locked horns with the BJP, while the CPM is trying to gain ground in the seats in its earlier strongholds.
HERE ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS:
04:00 pm: Trinamool Congress wins Uluberia Lok Sabha seat by huge margin
02:15 pm: The Congress stands fourth in both the constituencies.
01:00 pm: Noapara bypoll results | Left Front-backed Communist Party of India-Marxist candidate Gargi Chatterjee finished a close third, after running second in the initial rounds of counting.
12:15 pm: "The Trinamool Congress has won the Noapara by-election. The BJP secured second position and the CPI(M) came third," said West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Aariz Aftab.
12:02 pm: Noapara Assembly seat bypoll result TMC candidate Sunil Singh secured 1,01,729 votes in Noapara, the BJP's Sandip Banerjee got 38,711 votes. The CPI (M)'s Gargi Chatterjee was at number three with 35,497 votes.
11:00 am: Noapara Assembly seat bypoll result | Trinamool Congress candidate Sunil Singh wins with 1,11,729 votes.
10:56 am: BJP continued to emerge as the Trinamool Congress's main challenger by finishing second in Noapara. It was also running second in Uluberia.
10:50 am: The Left-backed CPI-M candidate took the third spot in Noapara and was occupying the same position on Uluberia.
10:42 am: Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress wins Noapara Assembly seat.
10:35 am: Noapara Assembly seat by-poll trends| Trinamool Congress candidate Sunil Singh gets 96,297 votes, CPIM's Gargi Chaterjee gets 33,729 votes, BJP's Sandip Banerjee gets 35980 votes and Congress's Goutam Bose gets 10090, NOTA-3427
09:27 am: Noapara Assembly seat bypoll trends| Trinamool Congress candidate Sunil Singh gets 51,694 votes, CPIM's Gargi Chaterjee gets 19,067 votes, BJP's Sandip Banerjee gets 17,688 votes and Congress's Goutam Bose gets 6138, NOTA-1866
09:22 am: Noapara bypoll result | After the third round of counting, Trinamool Congress takes a huge lead.
09:00 am: Uluberia Lok Sabha seat | Trinamool Congress candidate Sajda, who is also the widow of former MP Sultan Ahmed, is leading on her seat.
08:25 am: Trinamool Congress is ahead in Noapara by 483 votes.
08:24 am: First round of counting is over, early trends will be out soon.
08:00 am: The counting of votes for Uluberia Lok Sabha and Noapara Assembly seats has begun.
07:43 am: The Uluberia Lok Sabha seat has 15,77,396 voters and the Noapara assembly seat has 2,46,522 voters.
07:30 am: Voting for the bypolls in West Bengal was held on January 29.
07:20 am: Between 75 and 76 per cent votes were cast till the end of scheduled time in by-polls to the Uluberia Lok Sabha and Noapara Assembly seats in West Bengal.
07:10 am: The elections were necessitated by the death of Sultan Ahmed, the sitting TMC MP from Uluberia, and of Madhusudan Ghose, Congress MLA from the Noapara Assembly seat.
07:02 am: In Noapara, the Trinamool Congress fielded Sunil Singh, the CPI(M), Gargi Chatterjee and the Congress, Goutam Bose. Sandip Banerjee of the BJP is also in the fray.
